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Saracen Transport
"Hey! Be careful with the upholstery!" :- Saracen Transport driver to his passengers Tactical Analysis *'Four Seater': The Saracen has just enough room for four passengers, who can ride in relative comfort inside it. With it's six wheel drive and various other features, it is well suited for fighting in the desert. *'Pom Pom': The Saracen's machine guns can put bullet holes in the bodies of infantrymen and shred aircraft apart with a hail of bullets. *'Desert Shield': The Saracen is outfitted with impressive steel armour plating. This grants the Saracen an impressive level of survivability, although the trade off is that it is no longer as fast as it used to be. Operational History The Saracen Transport's history can be traced back to the days of World War II, when the Allies were fighting against the Soviets in Northern Africa. Mobility is key to desert warfare, and as such the Allies needed a transport that would work in the desert. The British company Rolls Royce therefore set about to create an armoured car that would be able to operate reliably in the desert. It would need to be able to withstand harsh extremes, for the desert is one of the most inhospitable environments on Earth. Right from the ground up, the M9 Saracen Armoured Car was designed to operate in the desert. Dust filters kept sand and dust particles out of the compartments of the car. The all terrain six wheel drive was designed to work even on sand dunes, while sandflaps and gaskets were integrated into the design. Ample reserves of water were included in the Saracen's blueprints, and would allow soldiers to top off their canteens before disembarking. Saracens were painted in desert camouflage, allowing them to blend in with the desert. At least two variants are known to have existed, the M9A, which was armed with a British 1-pounder gun, and the M9B, which was armed with four Vickers machine guns mounted on a turret. All in all, the Saracen performed admirably well, and would continue to serve the Allies even aftre the war. However, the Saracen was eventually phased out, following the introduction of the Riptide ACV. The Riptide could operate in desert conditions, thanks to its all terrain hover propulsion, and proved to work extremely well in the desert with just a few modifications. After the phasing out of the Saracen, the British sold it off to other countries, as they had done so with so many other weapons formerly in their inventory. Though most countries had no interest in the obsolete armoured car, Saudi Arabia realised that it would be a excellent addition to their armed forces, perfect for operating in the desert that comprises much of Saudi Arabia. Buying the entire fleet of decommissioned Saracens, the Saudi Arabians set to work on the old transports, converting all models to the M9B variant, upgraded with (marginally) more powerful engines, and refitted with significant armour plating. Though the Saracens have seen little combat since the Saudi military acquired them (up till the Saudi Civil War, that is), they have proved themselves to be reliable as ever. Behind the Scenes * The Saracen is based off the real life M8 Greyhound, although the Greyhound was an American design. * The idea of using an armoured car for the GLA in the first place was inspired by the Cobra Tank from the Zero Hour mod CNC: Shockwave. * Modelled and textured by SighNapse over the course of 8 hours due to unhealthy amounts of procrastination through Terraria, R3ven and Skype. Category:Units